Cologne: Microcosm Of Germany Through The Ages

From Roman Ruins To Medieval Architecture To Friendly Beer Halls, The City On The Rhine Is A Mix Of The Old And New World.

December 29, 1991|By Gary Lee Washington Post

COLOGNE, GERMANY — If every city has a miracle at its heart, the miracle of Cologne is the endurance of its Old World charms against unusual odds.

Occupied consecutively by Romans, French and Prussians, almost completely flattened in World War II, nearly smothered by the burgeoning industrial sprawl of central German cities, it nevertheless remains one of the richest strongholds of Old German culture.

For the traveler who likes to wade headfirst into the history and tradition of far-off places, Cologne could hardly offer more: ruins that date back two millenniums; a towering cathedral that took more than 600 years to build; remnants of the baths Jews used to frequent in the Middle Ages. Founded as the northernmost Roman colony 2,000 years ago, Cologne still has some of the rarest remains of ancient Roman artifacts and architecture.

Endearing and in many cases remarkably well preserved, most of the city's Old World characteristics are nevertheless easy for the casual tourist to overlook. Like most German cities, Cologne was bombed into splinters during World War II and had to be rebuilt cement block by cement block.

Some buildings not destroyed by bombs were smothered by postwar reconstruction or since then have been overtaken by contemporary fads. One example is the Alter Wartesaal, an elegant hall with gilded walls and cathedral ceilings that was used as a waiting room for train passengers as far back as the mid-1800s. It is now a fashionable restaurant and discotheque.

Besides all that, Cologne has an impish, slapstick side that sometimes obfuscates the artistic nature at its heart. Pubs are scattered along nearly every block, providing Koelsch, the local beer, and the chance to mingle with natives. Particularly during the rowdy, mid-winter carnival season, the whole city goes upside down in wild costumes, silly songs, dance and the inevitable flow of Koelsch.

Although much of Cologne is purely 1950s concrete, the city's architecture overall provides good examples of a whole range of European building traditions. In some of the city's historical districts, the new architecture is laced effectively around the old, giving both the facades of centuries past and those of today powerful visual force. Along the Rhine near the city center, for instance, the ultramodern Ludwig Museum and even more modern Hotel Maritim are sandwiched tastefully around the 19th-century old town.

After scratching the surface of Cologne's culture by studying its buildings, a traveler who is really interested in German food, music or art could easily satisfy all curiosities.

But I think the best pastime in Cologne is piecing together the development of the city's cultural history. It is an exercise that requires some initiative - hopping around from one ruin to another at different ends of the city, traipsing in and out of small museums - but the reward in the end is an excellent sense of what middle-German culture is all about.

A lot of Cologne's past glory still lingers. Even more of it is being constantly re-created, thanks to an active city renovation project. Six years ago, a statue was erected to commemorate the official completion of the city's postwar reconstruction. Two summers ago, a flower-lined pedestrian zone, recalling a 19th-century strolling promenade, was opened along part of the ring in the city center.

Overshadowed in sheer architectural beauty by Munich and in historical tradition by Berlin, Cologne is on the surface little more than a sprawling working-class town on the banks of the Rhine River.

In fact, the city's down-to-earth spirit is a large part of its charm, making those who live there and those just passing through feel that they are part of the place and not visitors in a museum. According to a longstanding Cologne custom, when a stranger walks into a beer hall, a place is made for him at a table.

Natives of Cologne take a great deal of pride in the city. The local dialect is heard nearly as much as high German in pubs, marketplaces and streets. The tradition of folk songs about the city, started by the self-styled bard of Cologne Willy Ostermann in the beginning of the century, is still going strong. One of the biggest local fads of the 1980s is the folk-rock group Bap, now internationally known, which sings quaint ballads about the city's neighborhoods and the characters who live there.

It is such practices that make Cologne culturally accessible. And with a population of about a million, the city is still small enough to have a gemeutlich, down-home feel. While the ornately decorated cities of Heidelberg or Rothenburg offer more visual majesty, Cologne offers easier access to its heart than any other urban area in Germany.

Step out of the central train station and you are on the doorstep of the Cologne Cathedral, one of Europe's most imposing religious monuments. Building on the ornate Gothic structure started in 1248. It was completed in 1880.